QUICK OVERVIEW

• U.S. Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 235,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Employment gains occurred in construction, private educational services, manufacturing, health care, and mining. (Thx Obama)

• The Eurozone base interest rate, namely the interest rate on main refinancing operations, will remain at 0.00 percent, with the marginal lending rate and deposit rate remaining at 0.25 percent and minus 0.40 percent respectively. 

• Brazil's economy shrank by 3.6% in 2016. This follows a contraction of 3.8% in 2015. Making this the most severe recession on record. But things are now looking up...

•  “If you're looking to the Congressional Budget Office for accuracy, you're looking in the wrong place." – so declares Sean Spicer. Forestalling a report that isn’t favorable to Republicans, Trump and R’s are actively looking to delegitimize the agency’s credibility. 

•  Scott Pruitt, head of EPA: Carbon dioxide not a contributor to climate change… 

•  Snap, Inc. went public and sold stock to “investors” without voting rights. Yup, Snap just issued stock that does not vote. Question: is stock that cannot vote - still stock? (Interesting times indeed!)

• U.S. Productivity increased 1.3 percent in the non-farm business sector in the fourth quarter of 2016; unit labor costs increased 1.7 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rates). In manufacturing, productivity increased 2.0 percent and unit labor costs increased 2.4 percent. 

• (Reuters) China's major corn producing regions are urging Beijing to give more financial aid to farmers and accelerate efforts to boost demand for grain as farmers struggle with low prices and nascent steps to get rid of its ageing, bulging stockpiles stumble.

•  (World Gold council) Indian Gold demand will recover from las year: Last year Indian demand fell to it is lowest level since 2009, rocked by a barrage of policy initiatives and a soaring gold price. But the outlook is better – we expect Indian demand to be between 650-750t in 2017. 

•  Signs of slowdown grow as Britain gears up to trigger EU divorce. Separate data from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel showed the inflation rate for groceries doubling in the space of a month as prices for food staples including butter, tea and fish all rose.

• The world has lost more than 1,000 rhinos per year for the past 3 years in South Africa. No end in sight to poaching... 

• Amazon told USA TODAY that Echo’s design precludes snooping. The Echo keep less than 60 seconds of recorded sound in its storage buffer. As new sound is recorded, the old is erased. So there's no audio record made of what went on in a room where an Echo sits. 

•  The Economist explains: Why diamond production may be about to peak 

• According to Swiss Re, low interest rates have cost U.S. Savers about $1 trillion from 2008 to 2015.